Meezers At Large

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So when we left our intrepid explorers they had found the rooftop balcony and were mellowing.After a good night’s sleep, they were ready to tackle Paris. They had a tour lined up for 9am for the Eiffel Tower. They got up early and decided to take the bus. They got on the bus and after 2 hours weren’t getting close to the Eiffel Tower. What to do? They took a taxi to the Eiffel Tower. Way quicker and they had time to spare. The tour got together and went right up to the 2nd. floor. There werelong line ups for peeps to get in at the North, South, West and East gates, on the ground but we bypassed them with our tour. The view from underneath the tower leaves a lot to be desired, as you can see.

The Eiffel Tower took 2 years two months to build starting in 1887 and was inaugurated in 1889 and the Parisienne folk didn’t like it. It didn’t blend into the landscape and many found it ugly. The cost in 1889 for the Eiffel Tower was 7,799,401.31 French gold francs. Gustave Eiffel decided to open the gates to people and charge a small fee for the pleasure, to recoup the millions of francs it cost. He recouped his money in 6 months! The Eiffel Tower is 1,063 feet (324 meters) tall, including the antenna at thetop.Dad is showing off his camera. Nice isn’t it? Well, on his way back to the hotel from the Metro (subway), a woman stopped him and informed him there was a known pick pocket following him. He never showed off his camera again. He wore a windbreaker to cover the camera when they were on the move.

The Tower’s Protection

The Tower’s Colours

Constructed using puddle iron, the Tower is protected from oxidation by several coats of paint to ensure that it lives forever.

In 1900 in his book ” The 300-Meter Tower “, Gustave Eiffel wrote, “We will most likely never realize the full importance of painting the Tower, that it is the essential element in the conservation of metal works and the more meticulous the paint job, the longer the Tower shall endure.”

The Tower has been re-painted 18 times since its initial construction, an average of once every seven years. It has changed colour several times, passing from red-brown to yellow-ochre, then to chestnut and finally to the bronze of today, slightly shaded off towards the top to ensure that the colour is perceived to be the same all the way up as it stands against the Paris sky. Sixty tons of paint are necessary to cover the Tower’s surface, as well as 50 kilometers of security cords, 5 acres of protection netting, 1500 brushes, 5000 sanding disks, 1500 sets of work clothes…and more than a year for a team of 25 painters to paint the Tower from top to bottom.

After the remaking of, *Kiss me you Fool*, they were headed down and out of the Eiffel Tower. Aw, now to tackle the bus. Dad had his cell phone with all the pertinent locations, buses, and Metro stops. How could they go wrong? Off they went on the bus. Mom was enjoying the architecture and dad told her to get off the bus…off they went and found out that they got off too soon. They got on another bus and tried again. They went a little way and dad hollered, “I made a mistake we should have taken another bus.” Mom was getting a bit ticked off by this point. Dad conceded he didn’t get the bus system and there was something wrong with the directions on the cell phone. So they tried the Metro. The Metro had no escalator down nor up and the stairs were a grind after a while. It was the same on the Metro…get off/get on…MOL…Hop On/ Hop Off…till mom had enough and asked a very nice lady who gave her directions as they were nowhere near the hotel.

They returned to the hotel at 5pm and were rather spacy by this time. They grabbed supper and retired for the evening.

The next day they were up and out early once again. They had tickets for the Hop On/ Hop Off bus for two days. Hop On/Hop Off buses are great cause if you see an area you would like to go investigate, you can get off the bus and go visit the area and then hop on the bus again later…no extra charge. The bus had 4 routesor concentric circles it travelled. Mom and dad made it through the yellow and green….got off at Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The most expensive stores are located on thisstreet. Mom and dad went into the restaurant above for snacks and a coke. Mom went to the washroom which was upstairs and she saw the biggest cockroach she’s ever seen. She said it was at least two inches long. She left her camera at the table with dad so couldn’t take a picture. Bummer I would have liked to see it. Well, they couldn’t afford anything other than snacks so jumped on the Hop On/Hop Off bus and admired the scenery.

They came to the Arc de Triomphe and were overcome with the traffic from the 12 avenues connected to the circle.

The Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile letwal] Triumphal Arch of the Star is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l’Étoile — the étoile or “star” of the juncture formed by its twelve radiating avenues.

I heard some bad news the other day and thought it was time to ask for everyone in Blogville’s help. Lexi, the schnauzer, was told she has cancer, Her mom had the invading lumps removed but Lexi also has a mass in her lung. *sigh* I get very upset when I think of what Lexi’s going through. Please, read Lexi’s post and read what’s happening….just click on Lexi’s post. Lexi, the schnauzer, sure could use some extra help , bring on your best team.

Lexi is having a hard time with the chemo as its giving her an upset tummy to the point where she doesn’t want to eat. Let’s use the POTP to help Lexi relax, eat and tackle this disease.

Please feel free to take the badge, put it in your sidebar and ask for the POTP from your commenters.